EDGELEY, N.D. — For the final time in his high school career, Edgeley/Kulm’s Joe Kramlich will hit the golf course trying to win a state title.
“That’d be crazy. It would be pretty cool to go out and win a state championship,” Kramlich said.
The senior will be participating in the 2025 NDHSAA Class B Boys State Golf Tournament at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 3-4, at the Jamestown Country Club.
“I’m going for top ten this year, top ten in the state would be nice,” Kramlich said.
When he hits the links at the Jamestown Country Club, that won’t be his first time on the course. He has practiced there in anticipation of the final tournament.
After playing on the course for the first time on May 29, Kramlich said his first impression was that he enjoyed playing the course and the tree cover that blocks out the wind.
“It’s important to get familiar with it so I know where I have to lay up at and where I can be aggressive at,” Kramlich said.
Kramlich said his recipe for success this year is keep his ball from going out of bounds and avoid any penalty strokes.
Before he hits the course, Kramlich said he will need to continue to improve his driving and his putting. Kramlich said he is hoping to make at least one putt from further than 10 feet away from the hole.
Rebels head coach Rory Entzi said he has not thought about Kramlich winning the state tournament. Instead, Entzi is concentrating on Kramlich just playing well regardless of what the results wind up being.
“I think it doesn’t matter whose golfing,” Entzi said. “It’s pretty simple, you’re trying to limit your mistakes, the old cliche, put it in the fairway, hit the green, low-stress pars. If you have a tough hole, you limit the mistake, you don’t want to have a quad (quadruple bogey), maybe a bogey is acceptable, being patient. So I think that’s for any golfer, the formula is going to be the same no matter whose playing.”
Heading into the final meet of the season, Kramlich said his confidence is very high in his approach shots with his long irons and 3-wood.
This season, Kramlich qualified for his fifth straight state tournament with a score of 77 on May 13. Kramlich said he knew he qualified as soon as he finished his round.
“When I saw his dad (Aaron) at the turn because his dad was following him, he’s the assistant,” Entzi said, “we talked at the turn that even though he was seven over and that was the number and he had three bad holes. … It’s so hard to shoot a number so you’re better off just playing and seeing what happens at the end of the day. So he kind of did that, he went to the back nine and started playing.”
On Tuesday, May 27, Kramlich won his third region title with an overall score of 73 at Kidder County. Entzi said he is hoping that Kramlich is peaking right now and playing his best golf right now heading into the state tournament.
“I was pretty happy, that was my whole goal for this whole season actually, because now I’ve won the region three years in a row,” Kramlich said.
During the region tournament, Kramlich had to battle back from a tough final three holes on his first nine before turning it around on his second nine.
“I just relaxed and stopped thinking so much and just had some fun and it worked out,” Kramlich said.
Last year, Kramlich finished the state tournament in a five-way tie for 21st with a score of 3-over-par and a total score of 94. Last year’s state tournament was cut short due to rain.
“That was really embarrassing, I shot really bad the first day and that kinda made it difficult,” Kramlich said. “I was a 76 or something at the end of the first day and I bumped up 50 something spots all the way to 21st. So hopefully I can have a better showing both days than last year.”
Since this is not Kramlich’s first trip to the final tournament, he said that experience helps him know what to expect and be calmer when he steps up to the first hole.
“I guess it helps a lot because you don’t get quite as nervous, you just enjoy it a little bit because it’s a fun tournament,” Kramlich said.
Throughout his high school career, Kramlich has balanced playing golf and running track during the spring. He finished his track career with a fifth-place finish in the long jump thanks to a leap of 21 feet, 3.75 inches.
“This year was definitely my best at balancing them. I don’t know why exactly, but I was not as overwhelmed as other years, and I had more fun,” Kramlich said.
As of Thursday, May 29, the NDHSAA has published the hole locations for the first two rounds of the state tournament, which Entzi said he and Kramlich will study and build a game plan around.
“We will definitely probably have that sheet in our bag or one of us because at the Country Club, the greens are big and they’re undulating. I would guess they’re gonna be pretty quick,” Entzi said. “So it might be helpful. You might know the pins in the front but what’s all around it? Is there a backstop you can use, which side do you need to come into? Yeah, that’ll definitely play a role knowing exactly where the pin is, that’s pretty precise. That hasn’t always been the case, some years you just know it’s a front, back or middle pin.”
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